A number of stars took thinly veiled jabs at the Trump administration during the Tony Awards June 11. (Taylor Turner/The Washington Post)

People flipping to the Tony Awards on Sunday could be excused if they thought they had tuned in to a rerun — or at least a revival. The show featured stars, clad in their awards show finest, hurling barbs at President Trump.

Leading the way was Stephen Colbert, the host of “The Late Show” who usually takes Sundays off. Instead, he donned a tux and presented the award for best revival — but spent most of his time opining on political theater instead.

“It’s been a great year for revivals in general, especially that one they revived down in Washington, D.C.,” he said.

“Couple problems. The main character is totally unbelievable, and the hair and makeup, yeesh. No. No. … This D.C. production is supposed to have a four-year run, but reviews have not been kind. Could close early. We don’t know. We don’t know.”

Before he ceded the stage, he took another jab at President Trump. One of the nominees for best revival was “Miss Saigon,” and he said the title character was “the only pageant girl whose dressing room our president hasn’t walked in on.”

Colbert’s criticism was the most overt, but others highlighted the need for the escapist nature of the arts, or the fighting spirit of people who were not on the stage.

Cynthia Nixon, who won best featured actress for her role in “Little Foxes,” chose to comment on “this specific moment in history”:

“There are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it, and other people who just stand around and watch them do it. My love, my gratitude and my undying respect go out to all the people in 2017 who are refusing to just stand and watch them do it.”

Kevin Kline, while accepting the award for best performance by an actor in a leading role for “Present Laughter,” pointedly thanked the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, “a couple of organizations without whom probably half of the people in this room would not be here.”

Jill Biden, the former second lady of the United States, emerged as an unlikely star of the show.

Bette Midler hinted at that in her playoff-music-ignoring speech while accepting the award for best lead actress in a musical — even though she limited her allusion to the political climate to just 14 words.